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Boston Red Sox (89-63) @ Tampa Bay Rays (89-60) |
GAME NOTES: Tessie’s Dad: 152 regular-season games are in the books, with ten remaining. Barring either tragedy or miracle, the Red Sox seem destined to take the Wild Card spot this season. We’ll know soon if Francona intends to make a move to take the division away from the Rays or if he intends to use these final regular season games to evaluate pitchers and set the playoff rotation. My money’s on the Red Sox coasting into the postseason, not straining.
The Sox send Paul Byrd to the Rogers Centre mound tonight against A.J. Burnett in a rematch of Game 1 of last Saturday’s doubleheader at Fenway. Byrd’s two losses in a Red Sox uniform have both come against the Jays, and he has received a total of zero runs of support while on the mound in those games. Last time, Burnett limited the Sox to one unearned run on three measly hits over seven innings, while Byrd gave up 5 ER on 10 hits in only 5.0 IP. If Byrd wants to pitch in October, he’ll have to make a better showing than that, but it would be great if the offense decided to show up for him tonight.